Saturday, 10 December 2016

Viola Desmond - Canada's Rosa Parks - finally honoured

"Black rights activist Viola Desmond, who was jailed for defiantly
sitting in the "whites only" section of a Nova Scotia film house, will
be the first Canadian woman to be featured on the country's $10 bill.

At age 32, Desmond decided to go to the Roseland Theatre to see a
movie while her car was getting fixed on Nov. 8, 1946, but she was
thrown out of the "whites only" section and sent to jail. Black people
could only sit in the balcony of the theatre.

The next morning, Desmond was convicted of defrauding the province of
a one penny tax, the difference in tax between a downstairs and
upstairs ticket, even though Desmond had asked to pay the one cent
difference.

Desmond was released after paying a $20 fine and $6 in court costs. She appealed her conviction but lost."